Will Ospreay thanked AEW President Tony Khan after his match at the RevPro High Stakes event in London last night, with Khan sitting in the stands watching the show.
After going nearly 50 minutes in his match against Michael Oku, an emotional Ospreay, who is embarking on a new journey with AEW this month, grabbed the microphone and addressed Khan.
“This is genuine from the bottom of my heart, man. For 8 years, I’ve saved money. I’ve spent a lot of it. You honestly have changed my life,” Ospreay said.
He then continued, “So I’m promising you this now, eight years that I spent in Japan were the best years of my life…you ain’t seen nothing yet!”
Ospreay was introduced as the newest member of the AEW roster last November but still had a few months to go on his New Japan Pro-Wrestling contract before he could officially start full time with the promotion.
Professional wrestling is a global phenomenon, with the UK, Japan, USA, and Mexico having the biggest following. The style of wrestling varies between each country, but the showmanship, excitement and risks are common denominators. Notable wrestling promotions include the WWE and Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).
The WWE is the most well-known – it attracts huge audiences from as many as 150 different countries, and it is responsible for one of the best-loved events of the wrestling season, WrestleMania. The CMLL is renowned for the flamboyant style of wrestling known as Lucha Libre (think Jack Black flying through the air with a red cape and blue leggings). New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is the biggest event organiser in Japan, this style is all about being tough and strong with much less messing around. And All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is a relative newcomer to the scene and is making a play to become the WWE biggest competitor.
Surprisingly, or perhaps not, wrestling appeals to an incredibly broad audience. The demographic is split pretty evenly between men and women (60%/40% split), and between adults and kids. As an industry, it can make a large impact on a localised economy. Being the location of a significant wrestling match is not laughing matter. Along with ticket sales and merchandise, fans are spending money in local hotels, restaurants, and shops. When WrestleMania was held in Orlando, for example, it’s estimated that it generated $181 million for the local economy.
What makes a wrestler great?
Professional wrestlers need specific character traits should they wish to succeed in what is a highly competitive profession fraught with risk. Mental strength, a strategic mind, and a nature not adverse to risk are essential. Both wrestling and gambling are precarious choices, and whoever dares to go all the way must be prepared for the unexpected and be ready to fight their way to the top. It’s not unlike the set of skills that are needed to be successful when playing at the newest online casinos or challenging opponents in a competitive e-sports arena.
But wrestlers don’t become John Cena overnight. They have to train rigorously in specialised schools. Training to become a professional can take up to 3 years, and even then, there are no guarantees. If you don’t have the personality or showmanship to go along with the wrestling skills, you’re unlikely to make it into the professional promotions. Check out the film ‘Fighting with My Family’ if you want a better understanding of how the system works.
The Wrestling Gamble
Like any sport career, making it to the top as a wrestler takes commitment, courage, and skill. As anyone sports person will tell you, if you’re not devoted to your sport, you’re not going to make it. The added difficulty in wrestling is that not only is it competitive, but it also comes with an elevated risk of injury. Sure, we know much of what we see in the professional ring is staged for entertainment purposes, but that doesn’t mean that wrestlers aren’t putting their body on the line. So, the gamble comes down to how long a professional wrestler can go without getting a career-ending injury.
In most cases, however, professional wrestlers tend to have careers that last into their mid to late 40’s – much longer careers than the average athlete, in fact. But all that time in the ring takes its toll on the body. A smart wrestler will look to diversify their income as soon as possible. Take Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, for example. Branching out into action movies may have seemed unlikely at the time (I mean, remember when Hulk Hogan went Hollywood – disaster), but The Rock built a wildly successful career for himself outside of the ring. That doesn’t mean he turned his back on wrestling though – he’s constantly teasing a return to the ring.
Not every wrestler can turn movie star, but that’s not the only option. Many wrestlers use their huge social media following to create new streams of income. The WWE alone has over 30 Million followers, and a popular wrestler can have a few million of their own. Cody Rhodes, who won the 2023 Royal Rumble, has 1.7 million followers on IG and Charlotte Flair, one of the best woman wrestlers in history, has 5.3 million followers.
Endorsement deals, TV gigs, merchandising, and other business ventures alone will see wrestlers like these make a super comfortable living outside of the ring. Others may go into training, coaching, and managing other up and coming wrestlers. Whatever they decide to do, they need to start thinking about it early on in their careers so that they don’t get blindsided by their life in the ring coming to an end.
AEW International champion Orange Cassidy made a surprise appearance at the RevPro High Stakes event at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre today.
Cassidy received a huge pop from the crowd when he came out from the back for his unannounced match where he defended the title against Shigehiro Irie, Sha Samuels, Flash Morgan Webster, Spike Trivet, Richard Holliday and Cameron Khai in a seven-way match.
AEW’s Anthony Ogogo and Will Ospreay were also part of the event.
Cassidy, along with Darby Allin, accompanied AEW President Tony Khan to the Fulham match against Aston Villa yesterday but unfortunately it wasn’t good news for Khan’s team as they lost. The Aston Villa X account then trolled the AEW boss by posting the result and Price Nana dancing in the background.
CM Punk was interviewed backstage at UFC 298 by UK broadcaster TNT Sports and talked about his recovery and his return to WWE.
About his injury, Punk said that it’s sports, and it’s what happens to athletes and this is just an occupational hazard. He compared himself to an old car who needs to change parts sometimes, calling himself a “clumsy idiot” but with an engine that is still strong.
Asked about recovery, Punk said, “We’re thinking maybe six to eight months. I’m not really in a rush to get back, I’m not in a rush to compete, I’m in a rush to get healthy, I’m in a rush to get better, and the sooner I do that, the better I’ll be when I come back.”
Quizzed on returning to WWE and wrestling in general, Punk said that timing is everything in life and balance is key. He said when he was young he was on the road for 10 straight years and couldn’t say no to things but eventually burned out.
“Time heals all wounds,” Punk said, adding that all the stuff that happened 10 years ago doesn’t matter, it’s different people in charge and people change.
“It’s good to be back and super happy it happened,” Punk continued, noting, “The way I came back and how big it’s been never could’ve been what it was without the other crap.”
Asked about The Rock coming back as well, Punk said that it’s “fantastic” and the whole landscape has changed, saying that high tide raises all ships.
The former champion also hinted at still being involved moving forward while he’s injured.
“Even though I’m hurt I’m still gonna kinda be in the mix, my mouth still works, so I’m going to be able to talk some trash!”
“My heart goes out to Alexander Volkanovski, to me he’s still a champion”
WWE superstar @CMPunk reacts after a blockbuster #UFC298 event and discusses his comeback from injury ✨
The golden WWE title made the rounds last night at the NBA All-Star weekend at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Originally, the title was given to Snoop Dogg to promote WrestleMania 39 but then it was “stolen” and it popped up in different locations where several celebrities posed around with it. It’s a promotional tactic used for WrestleMania season and this year it was no different.
Celebrities such as Lil Wayne, 50 Cent, Shannon Sharpe, Anuel AA, Raw color commentator Pat McAfee, and even NBA Commissioner Adam Silver were photographed with the the title yesterday, a few days after it also swapped several hands during the NFL Super Bowl weekend in Las Vegas where the likes of Justin Bieber, Nina Dobrev, and different NFL stars posed with it.
WWE often gets criticism for an “ugly” championship, especially due to the monster WWE logo slapped on the main plate, but the title’s design was made on purpose to get the unmistakable WWE brand out there in such situations.
The UFC and WWE kicked off their first weekend takeover of the Honda Center in Anaheim, California as part of their new five-year deal with OCVIBE.
The UFC held their UFC 298 pay-per-view last night in the arena where WWE Superstars CM Punk, Bianca Belair, and Montez Ford were in attendance. All three were shown on screen and Punk even got the “Retired UFC Welterweight” in the lower third graphic.
WWE will be holding Monday Night Raw in the same location tomorrow night with nearly 11,000 fans already purchasing tickets. The UFC used the full arena and packed in an additional 17,000 MMA fans making it a great long weekend for the Honda Center.
Patrick Clark, the man formerly known as Velveteen Dream, made a surprise appearance at a Dynasty Wrestling event in Albany, New York.
Clark interrupted the first match and then issued an open challenge to anyone in the back, asking if anyone “wants to be a star tonight.”
Eventually, “American Muscle” Alec Odin did accept his open challenge but Clark defeated him in the main event of the show.
This was Clark’s first wrestling match since December 23, 2020. He was then fired a couple of months later by WWE after several allegations of inappropriate behavior after the #SpeakingOut movement in the previous Summer outed him as courting young, underage boys.
Clark did a video apologizing for his past behavior in January of this year but his apology failed to address the victims of his misconduct as well as mention why he was apologizing for in the first place.
There is no Collision tonight on TNT as the show was pre-empted due to the NBA All-Star weekend programming on the network.
TNT will be airing basketball from 5:30PM till 10:30PM, leaving no space for the AEW show. Rather than airing on a different night or an earlier time slot, it was decided to skip this episode altogether.
The show returns next week live from the Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri. Although it’s on the same day as the Elimination Chamber premium live event, the time difference should not affect Collision this time around as the WWE show will start at 5AM ET.
After Friday Night Smackdown went off the air, The Rock shook hands with all of the rest of the Bloodline and then Roman Reigns, Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and Paul Heyman left the ring, leaving Rock alone.
The People’s Champion did his usual poses on the turnbuckles acknowledging the crowd and he was showered with cheers despite minutes earlier calling them all inbreds.
As the WWE crew prepared to start the second taping for the night, The Rock interacted with fans at ringside, mouthing off some of them for fun but at the end of the day, still smiling. Rocky did give fist bumps to some kids at front row and then walked up the ramp, turned around and acknowledged the fans again.
The Rock turned back the clock and was a full-blown heel on Smackdown last night in his first advertised appearance on a WWE televised show in years.
The People’s Champion first showed up in his massive truck and parked sideways, occupying more than one spot and then came out for his promo in his vintage Versace shirt, only this time it was a vest, merging his Hollywood and Corporate gimmicks from decades ago.
The Rock made fun of the Salt Lake City crowd, telling them that they made a new indoor attendance record… a record of the biggest gathering of trailer park trash The Rock has ever seen.
He then continued to trash the crowd and their 50 wives and inbred families and at one point he told a “fatty” in the crowd that he’s gonna slap the herpes off his lips.
Rock berated the fans for having the biggest WrestleMania main event in history and they let it go, flushing it down the toilet, the same toilet that fans were on when they were being Cody crybabies.
The Rock kept on slamming the fans and the city, calling them spoiled and entitled little crybaby bitches before saying that he will do everything in his power to make sure “you” walk out of WrestleMania as a loser.
The camera work made it look like The Rock was pointing the finger at Roman Reigns, casting doubts that The Rock might be playing a little double agent here.
To end the segment, The Rock went for his usual “If ya smell” line but told the crowd singalong with The Rock is over, and continued the line by saying “If ya smell what the Bloodline is cooking.”
The show ended with Rock, Reigns, Solo, Uso, and Heyman all throwing their finger in the air, but Rock’s hand was more of an “L” shape than just the index finger, the sign for a gun…or L for loser!
The Western Australian newspaper is reporting that there will be a free event on Friday afternoon outside the Optus Stadium starting at Noon local time ahead of Elimination Chamber.
WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE Women’s World champion Rhea Ripley, Randy Orton, Becky Lynch, and WWE United States champion Logan Paul will be in attendance and on stage for this press event.
The whole event will be streamed live on WWE’s social media properties as well as on Foxtel Channel 144 in Australia.
Tickets for the Elimination Chamber remain available at Ticketmaster.com.au. WWE has moved over 45,000 tickets so far for the show with the cheapest seats going for $50.91 AU.
The men’s Elimination Chamber match is now complete with the addition of Kevin Owens and Logan Paul who last night defeated Dominik Mysterio and The Miz respectively to earn their place in the match.
Owens and Paul now join LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, and Bobby Lashley and the winner of this Chamber match will go on to face Seth Rollins at WrestleMania 40 for the WWE World Heavyweight title.
Meanwhile in the women’s match, Tiffany Stratton and Naomi punched their ticket to Australia after they beat Zelina Vega and Alba Fyre in their qualifying matches. One more spot remains in the women’s match which will be decided on Monday Night Raw in a battle royal. Becky Lynch, Bianca Belair, and Liv Morgan have already qualified for the match.
The winner of this women’s Elimination Chamber match will face Rhea Ripley for the WWE Women’s World title at WrestleMania 40.
Current NXT Tag Team champion Bron Breakker has officially joined the Smackdown brand and for the time being will be pulling double duty as he appears on NXT as well.
Breakker appeared on Smackdown last night and signed a contract with Nick Aldis and will be making his in-ring debut for the brand on next week’s show.
The former two-time NXT champion is one of the standout up-and-coming WWE Superstars who came out from the NXT system and the 26-year-old joined Tiffany Stratton as the newest member of the blue brand.
Breakker won the NXT Tag Team titles with Baron Corbin on this week’s NXT after they beat Tony D’Angelo and Stacks.
Kevin Owens VS. Dominik Mysterio in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match
R-Truth came out during the match to cheer on Owens and toward the end of the match Dominik yelled at Truth to get a chair and while they argued, it gave Owens a chance to recover and as soon as Dominik turned around Owens hit him with a superkick then a pop up powerbomb and wins the match.
Winner: Kevin Owens
Kayla Braxton interviewed Drew McIntyre and LA Knight comes in and they began to argue until referees broke them up.
Roman Reigns is shown arriving, and he hugged Jimmy and said let’s go fix everything Jey messed up.
Pete Dunne and Tyler Bate are talking about changing the tag team division and Dominik Mysterio walks in and says they have no chance against the Judgment Day and Tyler says let’s test that next week against you and R-Truth and Dominik says Truth isn’t even in the Judgment Day.
Zelina Vega VS. Tiffany Stratton in a women’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match
As Zelina finished arguing with Electra Lopez who was yelling at her from the front row, Zelina gets caught getting back in the ring and Stratton slams her then hits the Prettiest Moonsault ever and gets the win.
Winner: Tiffany Stratton
The O.C. in the locker room trying to talk to AJ Styles and Styles and Anderson get in a shoving match.
The Final Testament then are shown getting hyped up by Paul Ellering.
Javier Bernal & Beau Morris VS. Authors of Pain
AOP destroyed Morris & Bernal quickly.
Winners: Authors of Pain
Byron Saxton interviewed Logan Paul and tonight will be his first match on Smackdown.
The Miz VS. Logan Paul in an Elimination Chamber qualifying match
Paul caught the Miz coming back in the ring with a leg whip then hit the Miz with a knockout punch then dropped the Miz to the mat and pinned him.
Winner: Logan Paul
Nick Aldis is in the office with Jade Cargill and Bron Breaker and Tiffany Stratton barged in and began asking Liv Morgan and Bianca Belair questions and Jade says I know we are not doing this in my big business meeting and Aldis tells Tiffany this is not the time and walks over to Bron and Bron says so and Nick picks up his contract and says let’s go.
Naomi VS. Alba Fyre in a women’s Elimination Chamber qualifying match
Naomi locked Fyre in a double arm lock and Fyre had to tap out.
Winner: Naomi
Bayley is shown walking backstage and is stopped by Dakota Kai and Kai begs for her help. Bayley said this has been going on for months and I don’t know who I can trust right now, and I can’t do this right now and walked away.
Nick Aldis announced he signed Bron Breaker to Smackdown.
Out to the ring next is Roman Reigns and the Bloodline. Roman says tonight is history because tonight when my cousin gets out here, we can finally say The Rock is a member of the Bloodline. The Rock then comes out to the ring.
The Rock starts by telling the crowd they broke an all-time Utah attendance record and then said the gathering of trailer park trash. Rock then the Rock goes into his “Finally” then after over and over insults of the crowd the Rock went into “If you smell”. He told the crowd sing a long with the Rock is over, “If you smell what the Bloodline is cooking.”
The Rock and Roman Reigns are returning to Smackdown tonight in Salt Lake City, Utah, where a sold out crowd of over 11,000 fans are expected. This is the first advertised appearance of The Rock on a WWE broadcast in a very long time and expectations are big for a good number.
Elimination Chamber qualifying matches will be taking place tonight, with The Miz facing Logan Paul and Kevin Owens vs Dominik Mysterio for a spot in the men’s match while Zelina Vega takes on Tiffany Stratton and Naomi battles Alba Fyre for a spot in the women’s match.
This is Naomi’s first singles match in WWE since she made her return at the Royal Rumble.
A full week since it went on general public sale, the AEW Dynamite: Big Business show at the TD Garden in Boston is just shy of 6,000 tickets sold for what will be Mercedes Mone’s debut with the company according to @WrestleTix.
Apart from Revolution where nearly 16,000 tickets have been sold, this will be AEW’s highest-attended television show of the year so far, with other Dynamite and Collision struggling to go past 3,000 on most weeks.
The TD Garden setup has been expanded to around 6,800 seats and the company still has a month to go to move more tickets. The last time AEW was at the TD Garden was for Blood & Guts and had almost 10,000 fans.
AEW’s return to Toronto, Adam Copeland’s hometown, for March 20 is standing at 3,200 tickets although the May 11 episode of Collision in Vancouver did surpass 5,000 tickets, a rarity now for AEW live events.
WWE will be hosting a double Smackdown tapings tonight at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Next week’s show will be taped immediately following the conclusion of tonight’s live broadcast on FOX because WWE Superstars depart to Perth, Australia in mid-week for the Elimination Chamber premium live event.
With both Roman Reigns and The Rock there it is highly likely that one or both will be involved in the second set of tapings as it is usually the case, at least with Reigns.
NXT also had a double taping this week as some of the folks involved with running the show will be in Australia to oversee a training camp as they hunt the next WWE Superstars.
The WWE Experience at Boulevard City in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia officially opened its doors to the public today.
Located in one of Riyadh Season’s entertainment zones, the WWE Experience allows fans to witness the sights, sounds and epic storylines of WWE and its Superstars by interacting with unique exhibits and photo opportunities.
The WWE Experience includes the Super dome, a fully immersive arena where fans can feel the excitement of being at a WWE event, Backstage, where you can create your very own character and become a Superstar with a custom superstar entrance, The Crown Jewel, a stunning display of Championship titles from all eras of WWE, Memorabilia, a walk through 40 years of WrestleMania and authentic memorabilia showcased on display for the very first time, Undertaker’s Graveyard, an homage to Undertaker as you try to escape the graveyard by solving The Deadman’s puzzles, and Retail Shop, a unique retail experience that highlights the history of WWE featuring exclusive merchandise that can’t be found anywhere else.
Tickets are available online at webook.com for 75 SAR, the equivalent of $20.
The Valentine’s Day episode of Dynamite drew 811,000 viewers this week, up 6,000 viewers from the prior week. The show also did a 0.30 rating in 18-49, up 0.02 from the previous episode and was #2 for the night on the top 50 cable chart. (Ratings credit: SpoilerTV)
In his first public comments since being released from WWE, former WWE commentator Kevin Patrick announced that he will be the lead host of MLS 360 on Apple TV.
Speaking about his WWE stint, Patrick said he has nothing but love for three incredible years at WWE.
“From the exhilarating experiences & all the brilliant friends I worked with along the way, I’m flooded with gratitude,” Patrick said, adding that it was time to turn the page and could not be more excited for this new chapter.
Patrick was released from WWE in January after complaints about his work as lead Smackdown commentator. He was eventually replaced by Corey Graves who got promoted to lead commentator and was joined by Wade Barrett from Raw, opening a spot for Pat McAfee to return alongside with Michael Cole on Raw.
